Starting with vegetable greenhouses in 1988

Chapter 111 Is it him?

The next morning, Li Zhe accompanied the delivery truck.

The absence of Maxim's Restaurant and the addition of Mona Lisa Restaurant did not affect Li Zhe's business. On the contrary, he earned more money due to the availability of green peppers.

The car drove into Suzhou Hutong. Li Zhe gave Wang Jianjun a few words of advice and then prepared to return to Daying Village. The construction of the greenhouse was not yet complete, and he needed to go back and oversee it.

He patted Jinzi's head and was about to leave when a woman's voice came from outside the storefront: "Is Boss Li here?"

Li Zhe opened the door and saw Tan Jingya standing outside, wearing a red woolen coat.

Li Zhe stepped aside: "It's cold outside, sister-in-law, come in and talk."

"Woof woof!" Jinzi rushed over and barked at her.

Tan Jingya was startled and took two steps back: "This little dog is quite fierce."

While comforting Jinzi, Li Zhe asked, "Sister-in-law, is there something you need?"

"The house is dry, and my mother-in-law is getting a sore throat, so I came to buy some cucumbers to help her cool down."

Li Zhe invited her to sit down: "Sister-in-law, we're neighbors, no need to be so polite. The cucumbers with cracked skins in the basket were delivered this morning, feel free to pick some to take home and eat."

Tan Jingya pursed her lips: "Grandma Ji is indeed a bit stressed, but she's just anxious. The one who's really stressed is Ji Hongbin; his eyes are red, his mouth is full of sores, and he's having trouble eating. That's why Tan Jingya thought of buying some cucumbers to help him cool down."

But he knew that Ji Hongbin was very concerned about his image. If he found out that the cucumbers weren't bought, but were leftovers from the Li family, he wouldn't just be angry; he might even throw a tantrum, making his temper worse.

"Mr. Li, I appreciate your kindness. My mother knows your cucumbers are delicious and was thinking of buying more to give as gifts."

They were neighbors, living in the front and back yards, and Li Zhe had rented their house, so he was originally embarrassed to ask for money. But since they insisted on paying, he had no reason to refuse.

The amount of vegetables harvested is not constant; sometimes there are more, sometimes less. If there are more, they are sold at the market; if there are fewer, Wang Jianjun stays at home.

"We happen to have 4 jin of cucumbers left over today. How many jin do you want, sister-in-law? I'll pack them for you."

"Two jin will do." Her family isn't well-off these days.

While packing cucumbers, Li Zhe asked, "I heard that Brother Zhou and Boss Ji went to the south to do business. Haven't they come back yet?"

Tan Jingya's expression changed slightly, and she hesitated for a moment: "I just got back a couple of days ago. I've been running around outside for a while and I'm tired. I need to go home and rest for a few days."

Li Zhe knew about Ji Hongbin and Zhou Yongqiang's business of reselling treasury bonds in the south and was curious whether they had made any money. Seeing that Tan Jingya was unwilling to say more, he did not press the matter.

Tan Jingya didn't linger. She took the cucumber, paid for it, said goodbye, and left.

As Tan Jingya entered the house, she heard the mother and son talking inside: "Binzi, you have to cheer up. You can't stop eating and drinking. It breaks my heart to see you like this!"

"Mom, all our money is gone, it's all been stolen. I'm heartbroken!" Ji Hongbin said hoarsely, pounding his chest.

“Binzi, Mom knows, Mom understands. It’s not your fault, those people are just too mean. How can someone as kind as you fight against them? The money is gone, it’s gone, we don’t need it anymore.” The old lady’s tears fell with heartache.

"Mom, I know you feel sorry for me, but how are we going to live from now on? Everything is over, it's all my fault..." Ji Hongbin sighed, his voice full of sorrow.

"This isn't over yet. We still have antiques and gold bars at home. Mom will get them for you in a bit."

"Mom, are you telling the truth?" Ji Hongbin was both surprised and delighted.

The old lady's voice was filled with longing, "It's true, once we exchange the antiques and gold bars for money, Mom will take you to America, and we'll go live with your sister..."

……

On the dirt road in Wan'an Town.

A young man with messy hair limped along the road. His cotton-padded coat was torn, and the bag he carried on his back had the words "Wan'an Electric Fan Factory" printed in blue on it.

The young man's cheeks were swollen, and his eyebrows and eyes bore a resemblance to those of Zhang Yuzhen, the owner of the convenience store. He was none other than her son, Lin Xiaohu.

A gust of cold wind blew by, making Lin Xiaohu shiver. He wrapped his cotton-padded coat tighter around himself, thinking of his father's bold words when he sent him to the factory in a donkey cart, and felt an unusual sense of desolation in his heart.

Lin Xiaohu was an ambitious and thoughtful man. He wanted to change the factory through his own abilities and tried his best, but instead of gaining the appreciation of the leaders, he attracted jealousy, malice, and betrayal from other workers. It's better to leave sooner rather than later; this fan factory is beyond saving and will go bankrupt sooner or later!
Suddenly, he saw a green Liberation truck approaching in the distance. He hadn't had a proper meal for many days, and his body was exhausted and weary. His legs felt like they were filled with lead, and he simply couldn't walk any further.

He waved, trying to flag down the truck, even if it was just to give him a ride: "Stop...stop!"

The truck slowly pulled up to the side of the road. Lin Xiaohu, with a somewhat ingratiating tone, called out weakly, "Comrade, I'm from Daying Village. Could you give me a ride?"

The passenger door opened, and a man in a gray-black wool coat stepped out of the vehicle. Lin Xiaohu stared wide-eyed at the man in front of him, his face filled with disbelief—he recognized the face! But the truck, the wool coat, and that exquisite mechanical watch—how could it possibly be him?

Li Zhe sized up the somewhat disheveled young man and recognized him: "Lin Xiaohu?"

"No..." Lin Xiaohu took two steps back. He found it hard to accept, and even didn't want to admit that he was Lin Xiaohu, but it was as if he was being choked, and he couldn't say anything.

Seeing that he didn't seem to want to talk, Li Zhe didn't say much and waved his hand: "Get in the car, I'll take you back to the village."

"Thanks!" Lin Xiaohu replied, then lowered his head and ran to the back of the car, threw his bag into the compartment, and climbed inside.

There were three other people in the carriage, all acquaintances: the driver, Zhao Tiezhu, and two village militiamen. Zhao Tiezhu looked at him with surprise: "Hey, isn't this Lin Huzi? Why are your clothes torn? Your face is swollen, did you get into a fight?"

Lin Xiaohu kept his head down. He didn't want to answer, his mind filled with questions—he just wanted to know what had happened to Li Zhe? He should be holed up in the village growing vegetables, why was he sitting in the truck driver's cab? "Where did you guys come from?"

Zhao Tiezhu shook his head and chuckled: "You're a strange person. You don't answer my questions, but you ask us instead."

"I got into a fight at the factory, and I didn't want to work there anymore, so I came back," Lin Xiaohu replied, then asked, "Where did this truck come from? I don't remember our village ever having one before."

It was no secret that the Li family drove a truck to Beijing every day to transport vegetables. Zhao Tiezhu didn't hide it either, "This is Brother Zhe's truck; we use it to transport vegetables to Beijing."

"Transporting vegetables? What vegetables? Could it be..." Lin Xiaohu guessed something, his mouth agape: "He's grown cucumbers?"

"They've already been planted! Hey, how long has it been since you came back to the village?"

"The fan factory has been quite busy, so I haven't been back for a while," Lin Xiaohu said casually, then asked, "Where did Li Zhe find this car? And why is he dressed like that?"

Zhao Tiezhu was too lazy to talk to him anymore: "You, just stop asking. Go back to the village for a couple of days and you'll understand everything."

Lin Xiaohu then looked at the two militiamen, "Brother Su, Brother Zhao, are you also selling vegetables with Li Zhe?"

"We are not responsible for selling vegetables, but we help transport and escort them."

"What? You need someone to escort you when you deliver groceries?"

“Of course!” said the man called Brother Zhao. “Brother Li’s vegetables are precious. It’s only because we’re here to escort him that they might get robbed one day.” He then looked at Lin Xiaohu, “How did you get a black eye? Did you fight back? Did you embarrass our village?”

"No, no! I took on three of them by myself and beat them even worse. They knelt down and called me 'father,' and that's when I let them go."

The militiaman surnamed Su said, "You're just bragging! You're the kind of guy who runs home as soon as there's a fight. I know you too well."

Lin Xiaohu offered a few words of explanation, but had no intention of saying anything more to them, so he lowered his head and remained silent.

More than two months ago, he learned from his quick-talking wife that the fan factory was recruiting people. He was worried that Li Zhe would take his place in the factory and once regarded Li Zhe as a potential competitor.

Later, he got his job at the factory as he wished, while Li Zhe stayed in the village to grow vegetables. He originally thought that with his abilities, he would definitely be able to make a name for himself in the factory, and he made a lot of efforts in that direction.

But his efforts were in vain—the relationships within these township collective enterprises were deeply entrenched, with more people doing nothing than doing something, and any achievements he made would be snatched away by others. He relied on his sheer willpower, only to suffer setbacks and become disheartened.

He now understood that the biggest problem in the factory was the lazy, opportunistic workers who only knew how to curry favor. He had been fired precisely because he had tried to threaten their interests.

Meanwhile, Li Zhe, whom he had initially looked down upon, was now thriving, riding in a truck, wearing an expensive watch, and dressed impeccably. Their circumstances were like parallel lines, developing in completely different directions. He desperately wanted to know what had happened. Had he made the wrong choice back then?

The truck slowly came to a stop, and Lin Xiaohu got out. He immediately recognized that this was the Li family's land north of the village, and he also recognized the Li family's greenhouse—no, not one, how did it become six greenhouses?
There were four on the east side and two on the west side. Lin Xiaohu opened his eyes wide and observed carefully. He noticed that there seemed to be construction work going on on the west side, as if they were setting up scaffolding: "This... they're still building greenhouses?"

Why were so many greenhouses suddenly appearing in the village? His questions only deepened. He looked at Zhao Tiezhu beside him: "Zhuzi, whose are these newly built greenhouses?"

Zhao Tiezhu smiled and said, "These greenhouses were all built by Brother Zhe."

"How is this possible?" Lin Xiaohu stood there dumbfounded. He had inquired about the price of these greenhouses; building one would cost at least several thousand yuan. "Where did Li Zhe get so much money?"

(End of this chapter)